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I know that this has probably been covered before but I was looking for opinions regarding my circumstances.
I just adopted a 3 year old rescue dog (dog 2) over the weekend to join are 4 year old rescue dog, whom we have had for 3 years and is very bonded to us (dog 1). Dog 1 is 17 pounds, male, sweet with his humans, wary with strangers but not physically aggressive he just barks a lot, playful with dogs he knows and when we adopted him he had been neglected previously (chained up outside, not much food and water) but was not physically abused. Dog 2 is about 25 pounds and female and so far seems very sweet and not aggressive at all with hardly any barking. We don't know much about her since she was found as a stray down south and brought to the northeast. They are both neutered/spade.
I have read previously that when introducing a new dog to the house they should meet on neutral territory. We had wanted to do that but circumstances did not allow it and the dog was brought into our house with not much warning. Walking the dogs together is difficult currently because it is literally -5 (just been watching them in the backyard for short periods of time) where I am right now but it is supposed to warm up this week so we will be walking them together then, Dog 2 seems to really like our house and likes my husband and I but dog 1 is still unsure. He's not barking at dog 2 but they are not playing yet or interacting much. I think dog 2 wants to play more than dog 1.
Given these circumstances, how long do you think it might take for the two dogs to be friends?
Kattie is my 10+ year old 40+# Corgi. I got Lady my 8# Pap when she was 4 months old. That was 5 years ago! Lady is very submissive. Katie Not dominate per sa but to this day I Don't Dare leave them alone together!
Again and I know I sound like a broken record but you can't generalize. Each dog is an individual with their own personalities and each situation is different. Chances are your two will get along fine given a little time. Don't rush things and try to take them for walks together as soon as you can. That really does make a big difference as long as the dogs don't see each other as rivals. Good luck!
If you're not seeing any problems yet, I really don't think you're going to - at least nothing serious. I would head off any possible confrontations by feeding them separately and not leaving them alone together.
They're not going to be instant best friends. Give them time.
When I got my kelpie mix over the summer, my Catahoula was mostly ok with him. The kelpie is young and very uncertain, but terribly playful and friendly. My Catahoula is less outgoing and a little more prone to anxiety, but actually a pretty confident dog overall. He sometimes lashes out at the kelpie, and I allow it because he is establishing the hierarchy and schooling the younger dog. However, sometimes the Houla goes over the line a little. Still, no blood has been shed.
The vast majority of the time, they get along just fine, but they're still finding the balance of power and their boundaries.
They might never be "friends" they may just live together, be fine with each other, but not play or anything.
We've had a parade of foster dogs come and go and sometimes the beagle mix(our dominate dog) plays with them after a few days, others she ignores the whole time.
When we got Bailey, our 2nd(our very submissive hound) Maddie, the beagle, took to him straight away and they have been playing and inseparable ever since. Good thing too, since we flew him up from a rescue and had never meet him. Just knew we needed a very easy going and submissive dog for it too work with Maddie.
It depends. Over the years, I have introduced a bunch of adult dogs, all found as strays, to other adult dogs in our home. Most of the time, they learned to get along within a few weeks. (Introductions were always on-leash, and one dog would stay in a large VariKennel until I was sure there would be no violence between them.)
But in one case, one dog, a rat terrier, never stopped being aggressive to 2 mutts. We tried, heavens knows, but the ratty would have none of it. So we ended up having 2 populations of dogs: one upstairs and one downstairs. It wasn't the best imaginable arrangement, but we made it work. Once the rat boy passed away of old age, the 2 dogs downstairs were able to be upstairs with our other dogs all the time.
Funny thing about the rat terrier. When he first met our female pitbull mix rescue, they both hated each other. I thought they would seriously hurt each other. Lots of snarling, snapping, etc. (Thank goodness for leashes and VariKennels..) But over the course of a month+, they began to realize they were both quite alike. They became best buddies and inseparable. When the rat boy died, the female pitbull mix mourned. She pathetically would search under every bush in our large back yard for weeks, presumably looking for him. Eventually, she figured it out, but she was never the same. For her remaining 2 years, she always seemed sad to me, no matter how much extra attention she got. The other dogs were just no substitute for her rat boy.
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